The Rochester Jr Monarchs are proud to announce that forward Bryan Bandyk has committed to play hockey at Iowa State... read more

ABOUT NCDC

The United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL) announced the launch of the National Collegiate Development Conference for the 2017-18 Season! The Monarchs are going to be one of the founding teams of this conference. The other members of the NCDC are the Boston Bandits, Junior Bruins, Connecticut Jr. Rangers, Islander’s Hockey Club, Jersey Hitmen, New Jersey Rockets, Northern Cyclones, PAL Junior Islanders, South Shore Kings, and the Syracuse Stars.

The NCDC is unique to players because it is a “tuition-free Junior hockey division geared toward Division I collegiate development/placement and beyond” (Bruneteau).

The Rochester Junior Monarchs are excited to be one of the founding teams and already has been preparing. With the addition of a NCDC team, the Monarchs Organization thought it would be best if they built a new addition onto their current home rink, the Rochester Ice Center. This new addition will contain two locker rooms; one for the NCDC team and one for the Premier team consisting of new customized locker stalls and benches. In the addition their will also be a meeting room for the players and coaches used for video, conferences, team meetings and so on!

The first puck of the National Collegiate Development Conference will drop on September 2017. The NCDC will contain the 11 founding teams, which are comprised of top-level hockey players that come from around the world. This division will allow the players the opportunity to develop their skills and give them the ability to compete in a division that will “become a pipeline for training, development, and NCAA Division I advancement” (Bruneteau).

The vision of the NCDC is a dream that turned into a reality, which cannot be any more appealing to players looking to reach the next level! The location of this conference is not only advantageous to the players, but also to NCAA Divison I schools, since 56% of them are “in the NCDC’s footprint, the scouting and development opportunities will increase significantly”(Bruneteau)! Just last year alone, the USPHL was able to have more than 300 college commitments and looks to only increase that number.

Teams within the NCDC will be able to have a few options to acquire players for their franchise. First, the teams will be allowed to have 8 Tenders, which will allow player’s rights to be secured who are not in a particular organization within the conference. Those who are not signed, will be eligible for the NCDC’s future draft (includes ’01 and ’02 birth years) will be held in January 2017 or the entry NCDC Draft in May of 2017. The players who are not tendered or are not eligible for the draft will be given the opportunity to go tryout for a franchise.